Nixon Travel Records Show State Agencies Paid $400K in 2 Years

JEFFERSON CITY - Records released Friday by the Governor Jay Nixon show state agencies paid nearly $400,000 dollars to finance airplane flights for Gov. Nixon during his first two years as governor. These documents provided by Nixon's office of administration include 260 flights Nixon took in 2009 and 2010, or an average of one every three days. The governor's office has a budget to cover Nixon's travel. The documents reveal he billed other agencies for himself, his wife, staff aides and personal security to fly around the state for two years.

The last time the governor's office budget is shown to have covered a flight is Jan. 2009. After that, Nixon charged other departments, including Health, Labor, Public Safety, Economic Development, and Natural Resources. Nixon's communications director, Christy Bertelson, refused to comment on the data until at least Wednesday of next week. In the Missouri House, Republicans and Democrats have endorsed a budget plan that would ban Nixon from billing other agencies to cover the cost of his flights.